Produced entirely from QuikSCAT data, this image illustrates the wealth of information available in scatterometer data. Over the ocean, colors indicate wind speed (blue is low, yellow high), while the wind direction is indicated with white streamlines. The land areas are enhanced-resolution backscatter values ranging from high values in tropical vegetation to low values in the deserts. The sea ice extent at the poles is calculated from the scatterometer data and is imaged as enhanced resolution backscatter values. The dry snow zone and melt facies of Greenland can be clearly distinguished. Image copyright BYU.